Unfortunately it had to be this way
by rhapsodys
Summary: Pete and Jim are patrolling on a usually quiet day when they encounter a beaten young girl.
1. Chapter 1

**Im going to stick with this story again, I know I am awful.**

**I am 17 years old and started watching Adam-12 With my father when I was a little girl, but recently finsihed the series this past summer **

**I do not own the characters used in this story, I am a huge fan of Adam-12 and would love to share my love with you all! **

It was an unusually quiet afternoon, the radio had been almost silent, and Pete and Jim hadn't done much talking themselves either. Pete drove slowly past the park and spotted someone limping out behind a bush. He squinted his eyes and pulled over, only to realize it was a young girl.

"Jim, call an ambulance" he said as he hopped out of the car. The girl had collapsed and was struggling to get back up on her feet. Pete approached her slowly, not wanting to startle her, while Jim picked up the radio.

"This is 1-Adam-12 requesting an ambulance at Bayshore and Griffith Park" he jumped out of the car before the dispatcher could reply.

The girl was whimpering, she couldn't have been more than 6 or 7, she managed to get up only to spot something in the corner of her eye. The girl tried to run, and screamed at the top of her lungs. Pete easily caught up with her, since she wasn't capable of making it far in her condition.

"No! Let me go, let me go!" the girl repeated as Pete grabbed a hold of arms.

"Take it easy sweetie, its alright" he tried to get her attention and assure her she was safe now. She finally looked up at the tall police officer with the light blue eyes. Her face was battered and had a cut right under her left eye. Pete's heart sunk and she buried her face into his chest. He rubbed her back slowly, she felt so fragile in his arms. Jim had been searching the park while Pete got the girl under control.

Pete looked at his partner and Jim shook his head no, no one was in site. Just a mother with her baby, and a group of young boys playing basketball. Pete helped her to the sidewalk as they waited for the ambulance arrive.

"Mommy! I want my mommy!" she wailed, still holding tightly to Pete.

"Whats your name sweetie? We will call your mom right away"

"Katherine Wilson" she stuttered, her eyes were glazed over and hair disheveled.

"Reed see if anyone reported a Katherine Wilson missing, I am going to ride with her in the ambulance, Ill meet you at the hospital." Pete said as he helped the paramedics carry Katherine onto the stretcher. He held her hand the whole way, and asked her where she went to school, who her best friend was, anything that could give him a hint as to what could have happened. Years on the job, deep down he knew, but he didn't want to believe it, she was only a child.

"Did you call my Mommy?" she asked Pete as she was rolled out of the ambulance.

"Yes, honey, my partner called your Mommy and Daddy" he said with a smile and rubbed her forehead. It was the last thing he told her before she was rolled back into the Emergency Room.

Jim had just arrived and walked into the hospital to find Pete.

"Partner," Jim said as he walked in "Her mother is Claire Wilson, she reported her missing an hour ago," he shook his head. "Rape, huh?"

"Looks like it partner," Pete said with a sigh "I called Mac, told him I wanted to stay with the girl until her mother got here." Jim agreed and took a seat in the waiting room, Pete sat beside him while they waited for an all clear from the doctor to see her.

"Officer Malloy" the doctor greeted him with a handshake, he knew him well from working on the job for so long. "The girl says she would like to see you." Pete followed the doctor down the long hallway.

"How is she Doc?" Pete asked with concern.

"I dont think I have to tell you what happened," he said looking at him, Pete shook his head. "She is going to be okay physically, she will be in pain for a few days no doubt, buts its the mental trauma. You've dealt with so many cases like this, unfortunately, so you know." The doctor opened the door and stepped aside for Pete to walk in.

"Hey there Trooper" Pete said, as he handed her a stuffed animal he had purchased from the gift shop. Before she could thank him a woman rushed into the room, trying her best to stay composed.

"Mommy!" Katherine yelled, and at the site of her mother, she broke down in tears. Pete went to excuse himself as they embraced but before he could the woman stopped him.

"Officer," the woman said in a soft voice, almost like a whisper "I cant thank you enough for what you did today. I know its your job, but shes my little girl. I just cant thank you enough.''

"Its my pleasure, ma'am," Pete said quickly after the long delay "its not just my job as a police officer, but as a man." he took a step towards her.

"Well, I am more than thankful for it, she is all I have" she answered sitting beside Katherine on the hospital bed, stroking her forehead. Pete could tell she was trying to hold back the tears as her daughter laid there looking so helpless.

"Hey Trooper, you wouldn't mind if I stole your mother for a minute, would you?" Pete asked Katherine with a wink. She nodded and her mother slowly got up from the bed and followed Pete into the hall.

"I was trying to rescue you in there, no child likes seeing their mother cry," he said trying to comfort her with a smile "but we can only stay strong for so long."

Claire then nearly collapsed, Pete had to grab hold of her to keep her stable. He lead her to a chair down the hall as she wept. Pete went to search for a glass of water and a cool rag to calm her down. When he returned her head was resting against the arm of the chair. He took the rag and slowly rested it on the back of her neck, not wanting to startle her. Claire grew tense but Pete saw her body slowly relax as he handed her the water.

"Thank you," she said and took small sips of water "I am sorry you have to see me like this" she chuckled and finished the rest of her water.

"If I may say so, you look beautiful."

"Oh stop" she said with a chuckle while biting her lip. The two both gazed at each other before Claire broke the silence. "I think I should go back to Katherine, thanks again Office Malloy."

"It wasn't all my doing ma'am, I've got a partner too"

"Modesty? I like it. Thank your partner as well. It was a pleasure meeting you"

"Unfortunately it had to be this way. Tell Katherine I hope she enjoys her toy. We will send someone to your home tomorrow to get a statement, in the mean time, you two rest."

Pete watched her walk into the room, and he slowly turned around to make his way down the hallway with his hands in his pockets. Jim stood up at the site of Pete and smiled.

"How is she, Pete?" Pete was still thinking about Claire, he didn't even hear Jim "Partner?" he said louder.

"Oh, she is gonna be fine. Doc says the only thing to worry about is the mental distress she will be going through."

"Probably worse than physical trauma, dontcha think?" Jim put his head down and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Always is, but we shouldn't keep thinking about it. If we get too emotionally involved in our work it never ends well." Pete said abruptly and walked swiftly out of the hospital to the car. Jim walked behind trying to catch up with his partner who was looking down at the pavement with his hands in his pockets.


	2. Chapter 2

**I would like to thank you all for the positive feedback on my story, especially from my good friend Malloyfan. I thought I would share a little about myself. My name is Lindsay and I am 17. I grew up watching Adam-12 with my father, but it wasn't until this past year where I developed a true love for the series. I recently finished all 174 episodes. **

**I am not the worlds best writer, I know that, and I don't consider myself to be an expert on the show either. But it isn't going to stop me from writing. Negative feedback is only going to make me want to write more. It doesn't bother me, so don't waste your time. But figure that it did bother me, and I really took it to heart. You never know how the person is going to react to the hateful comments. So think before you speak.**

** I hope my few readers end up enjoying the rest of my story. This chapter I tried paying attention to detail and incorporating more characters.**

**Happy Reading, Lindsay**

"1-Adam-12 requesting backup at the corner of Sunset and Wilkshire, shots fired" Jim was crouched behind the door of the squad car with his gun in one hand, and the radio in the other. Pete could feel the sweat drip down his neck, years on the job there are some things you never seem to get used to. Pete looked up to see two men on the roof of a building, it was Dukes restaurant. Their guns were pointed directly at the car.

Then Mac arrived along with four other cars. Sergeant MacDonald ordered Officer Welles and Officer Brinkman to block traffic from both ends of the street.

"We will try and talk him down" Mac yelled to the rest of the officers with their guns too pointed at the suspects. Before Mac could reach for the mega phone shots rang out. Jim and others fired back at the two men on the building, but Petes hands seem to be working in slow motion. Their car became riddled with bullet holes, Pete looked down at his shoulder, he had been hit.

He didn't know what caused him to look down, he hadn't felt anything, just warmth. Things went quiet, and Petes eyes began to wander back to the rooftop to the two men. He tried to yell out but couldn't as one gunman began to turn the gun on himself. The man pulled the trigger, Pete was losing his breath, the man fell over the side of the building. Pete shut his eyes, and opened them quickly after he heard the man hit the pavement.

He looked around to find himself in his room. His shirt was soaked through with sweat, and he had lost his breath. Pete quickly grabbed his shoulder to find nothing but freckles. It was all a dream, he laid back down to process what happened. As soon as his head hit the pillow his alarm went off, it was 5:30 am.

Pete got up to shower, he had been having night terrors for the past week now with no reason as to why they were happening. He let the water hit his face to melt the stress of his dream away. Before he knew it he was pulled out of the stations parking lot with Jim.

"Ya know, I had the weirdest dream last night" Pete told Jim

"Again," Jim answered "What is this the 4th night in a row?" Pete nodded and shrugged it off.

It had been another slow day on patrol, directing traffic, writing traffic tickets, and circling their division countless times it could make their head spin.

"If it gets any slower out there we will be out of the job" Officer Woods joked while changing out of his uniform. "Oh yeah, Pete there was a nice lookin' woman out there asking for you"

"Who could it be Pete?" Jim asked

Confused, Pete shrugged his shoulders and walked to the front of the station. He opened the door that lead to behind the front desk.

"Someone was asking for me?" Pete asked the secretary.

"Officer Malloy," it was a voice he recognized, he looked up to find Claire and Katherine. "I hope we arent an inconvenience."

"Not at all," he said coming out from behind the desk "What can I do for you two?"

"Actually, Katherine insisted on giving you something." Claire said nudging her on the shoulder. Katherine took a step forward with her head down, and help out her hand. In it was a folded slip of paper.

"Whats this?" Pete asked and took the paper from her hands. He opened it to find a drawling. It was of Pete and his partner standing next to the police car. "Wow, did you make this?"

Katherine nodded and took a step back to grab her mothers hand.

"She wanted to draw you a picture thanking you."

"I drew it when I was in the hospital" she whispered.

"Well thank you very much Katherine, I will be sure to keep it in the car with my partner and I, as a good luck charm."

Jim, being so nosy, made his way to the front to see what Pete was up to while pretending to look for some important documents at the front desk. Pete saw him staring and chuckled to himself.

"Miss. Wilson this my partner Jim Reed, I don't think you two met." Jim walked over and shook her hand.

"Nice to meet you Officer Reed, thank you for your help the other day."

Pete showed Jim the picture Katherine had drawn and he praised her for her art. He offered to show Katherine around the station with the permission of her mother, Claire agreed. Katherine took Jim's hand and walked back to see the station and the police cars out back.

"How has she been?" Pete asked her, sitting down. Claire followed and sat beside him. She looked at the door and then down at the floor.

"I dont know if I should be alarmed, she seems perfectly alright. Is that normal? I just don't know." she said looking at Pete "Of course I'd rather have her this way, but I just doesn't make sense."

Pete listened and offered his best advice, he gave her papers for seminars to help those who have been victims of rape.

"If you think she is too young for these meetings, I'd talk to her pediatrician, he or she could recommend a good therapist."

"I will definitely look into it, thank you Officer Malloy." she flipped through the pamphlets as she waited for Katherine to finish the tour.

"Your husband and yourself might want to consider therapy as well, or just look into how to care for the situation. I deal with it quite too often, unfortunately, not only does it affect the victim but everyone around them."

"I will, Officer. But I am not married, we left my husband two years ago."

"I am sorry to hear that ma'am"

"Dont be! Plus, how are you to know? It was the best thing thats ever happened to us." she looked up at him and smiled slightly. Just then Jim and Katherine arrived back in the lobby.

"Mommy! You should have seen it! Everyone is so big, I want my daddy to be a policeman!" she screamed with delight, running into her mothers arms. Her mom pulled her up onto her lap as she told her what she saw.

"You do, huh?" Claire said, she looked over at Pete and blushed "I hope you thanked Officer Reed for showing you around, that was very nice of him."

"She did, you have a very polite young lady, Miss" Reed smiled.

Claire stood up, and so did Pete. His hand touched her slightly for a moment, and looked down. _What large hands_, she thought to herself. His hands were covered in freckles like the rest of him.

"Here, I'll walk you two out." Pete said, and held the door open for them both. He walked them to their car and opened up the door for Katherine to climb in. He watched her fasten her seatbelt and shut it afterwards.

"Thank you again for the pamphlets." Claire said looking up at him, their bodies were close together between the two cars in the parking lot.

"My pleasure," he smiled "I hope I am not being too forward, but how would you like to have dinner?"

"I would enjoy that very much, but its hard to get a sitter on such short notice," she looked back at Katherine who was watching them intently, "So would tomorrow night work for you?"

"Perfect, I will pick you up at 6" he smiled at her and they exchanged phone numbers and addresses.

"I will see you then Officer Malloy" Claire then climbed into the car and rolled down her window.

"You can call me Pete"

"Pete.." she repeated to herself "Got it, Ill see you then, Pete"


End file.
